Administration

Jeff & Anne Scheetz- Dave School Founders

Jeff Scheetz

With over 25 years in media production, Jeff Scheetz has amassed a thorough knowledge of visual story telling through film, video and animation. He is a member of The Visual Effects Society and The Television Academy of Arts and Sciences. Prior to opening The DAVE School, Jeff worked for Foundation Imaging. It was there that he first took a strong interest in artist recruitment and development. He hired, trained and supervised over 120 artists. This experience played a key role in his desire to create a vocational animation school. Jeff’s career also included working for NewTek Inc., Nickelodeon, Universal Studios Florida,and Walt Disney Imagineering.

Anne Scheetz

From the earliest stages of development, Anne Scheetz has played a principal role in the planning and organization of The DAVE School. After receiving a Degree with a major study in Communications, Anne attended a Career College herself. She completed a program in Broadcasting and became a morning news anchor on an AM/FM station in Keene, NH. She left the Northeast for an opportunity to do news and traffic reporting in Orlando, FL and transferred with that company to Los Angeles, CA. Once she and Jeff were married, they returned to Central Florida to raise their daughter and open The DAVE School.

Brad Murphy- Associate Director

Brad Murphy was the second employee hired by The DAVE School’s founders Anne and Jeff Scheetz in 2000. Prior to that, his freelance production career found him on the sets of such television shows as Animal Planet’s Petsburgh USA and Good Dog U in positions ranging from Researcher to Office Manager. Having been a Production Coordinator for Walt Disney World’s Christmas Paradefor ABC, Brad was more than ready to handle a Coordinator position at Haxan Films, the creators of The Blair Witch Project. It was there that he assisted in their resurrection of the great television classic, In Search Of… . Brad’s passion for film, coupled with his family’s strong background in education, eventually led him to The DAVE School where he is often referred to as the glue that holds it all together.

Originally from Pennsylvania, Brad earned his Bachelor’s of Fine Arts in Film & Video Production from Point Park University in 1994. His award-winning photographs are the pride of his family, and his short 16mm film, reflection, which he wrote, directed, shot, edited, and conformed, screened at the Pittsburgh Filmmaker’s Melwood Avenue Grand Opening. Brad’s old school pride in, and love for, The DAVE School, is apparent in all he does.

William Vaughan- Academic Director

William Vaughan is an award-winning artist, writer, director, and is the Academic Director at the Digital Animation and Visual Effects School at Universal Studios in Florida. He has created thousands of original computer-generated characters, including Tofu the Vegan Zombie. William has trained thousands of cg artists throughout the world and authored more than 300 tutorials and instructional videos. He has been published by every major cg magazine, contributed to 18 books, has written and directed several award-winning films, and has created digital art for many top studios, including Nickelodeon and Pixar Animation Studios.

Saham Ali, Director of Information Technology for The DAVE School, has been a key player in the field of VFX and Animation since 1999. A Florida native and admitted technophile since the age of 8 when he dismantled his cousin’s IBM 8086, Saham realized early on that a computer could do so much more than play games. His first 3D experience was at the age of 10 when he acquired an Amiga 2000 and he hasn’t stopped since. As the Chief Technology Officer for Red Earth VFX, his work can be seen on many TV productions including Outsourced, Hawaii 5-0, Undercovers, Gerry Anderson’s The New Adventures of Captain Scarlet, The Return of Pink 5, Star Trek: New Voyages, A Christmas Village, and Red Tails for Lucasfilm. Eventually given the opportunity by the Economic Development Department of New Mexico to provide digital media services by experimenting with their 14,000 core HPC, Encanto. Saham prides himself on knowing the inner workings of the technology behind CG. A proud DAVE School grad, Saham loves the creative environment the school fosters, allowing students to explore and create what they want without being hampered by technology.

Saham graduated from The DAVE School in 2003. His goal is to continue to make DAVE a “technological Garden of Eden” by leveraging up-and-coming technologies to achieve things that were not possible before. His in depth knowledge of IT systems, Animation and VFX is indispensable to The DAVE School.

Angel Gonzalez- Gaming Dean

Angel Gonzalez is currently the Dean of the video game program at the Digital Animation and Visual Effects School at Universal Studios in Florida. Angel has over 10 years’ experience creating video games. Angel has had the pleasure of working with great intellectual properties such as Ghostbusters, The Walking Dead, Spy Hunter and Aeon Flux. He has worked with several of the top publishers like Microsoft, Activision and Atari. He has lead teams of animators and character artist all of whom have moved onto great careers in the industry with companies such as Naughty Dog, Blizzard, Bungie and Robot Entertainment to name a few.

Michael Keith- Director of Career Services

Michael Keith was born in California but has lived in Orlando for almost 4 decades. He used his degree in electronics engineering to obtain a position at TriQuint Semiconductor which he held for 14 years. During that time Michael developed a strong interest in independent filmmaking, producing several short films, one of which won an award in a local film festival. In 2008 his love of film led him to The DAVE School where he completed the VFX program, and immediately after graduation accepted a position with Worldwide FX working as a visual effects compositor on Sylvester Stallone’s “The Expendables“.

Michael’s experience as a DAVE School student and as a VFX professional makes him the perfect bridge between our students and employers. As Director of Career Services, Michael helps The DAVE School maintain an extremely high job placement percentage as he works with the students and graduates to provide career guidance.

Andrea Clemens- Director of Admissions

Andrea received her master’s degree from Boston University in clinical social work and has spent the majority of her career working in higher education. A Boston native, Andrea found her way to Florida through the Disney College Program, where she met Jeff and Anne Scheetz. This connection led her, many years later, to work at the DAVE school. Although her only creative talent is in writing silly songs for her friends’ birthdays, Andrea is passionate about encouraging students to follow their dreams of becoming professional digital artists.

Lauren Dottley- Executive Assistant

Lauren Dottley grew up in Alabama before making the move to Orlando. She has been pursuing a lifelong career in dancing and gymnastics since she was two years old, and she plans to ultimately instruct. In the meantime Lauren has joined The DAVE School team and is excited about helping students reach their dreams in the animation and visual effects industry

Lauren is studying towards a degree in Business Administration and prior to DAVE School, she was an Admissions Representative at Full Sail University. Lauren appreciates the passion and goals prospective students have and she works tirelessly to ensure they get the support and guidance they deserve.

Trevor O’Hare- Student Accounts Representative

Trevor O’Hare was born in New Jersey and relocated to South Florida in 2003. After completing high school, he went on to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in Communication at the University of Central Florida. After completing his education, he started working at Full Sail University in their Admissions department. Recently, he made the switch to the DAVE School, and he is now helping students pursue their passion for animation and visual effects.
For fun, Trevor likes to play guitar and sing. He has been a musician for over twelve years now, and continues to write and record songs while also playing shows all over the country. This passion for music is what helps Trevor relate to students of the DAVE School as they begin pursuing their own creative endeavors.

Taylor Rivera- Housing Director

Taylor Rivera, a native of New York, relocated to Florida in 2004. She has been Housing Director since June 2012 and is responsible for the overall management of student housing. Taylor has vast experience in administration, sales, and property management. She is dedicated to helping students make a smooth transition into their “home away from home” and aims to make it a positive experience during their residency.

Beth Lockard- Housing Coordinator

Bethany Lockard brings to The DAVE School not only her strong background in Art Education, but her amazingly genuine personality as well. Starting as “the voice of the school” with a smile for everyone who came in the door, Beth brought a dedication and warmth to the role of Receptionist seldom seen.· Her love of tirelessly helping students, visitors, co-workers, and faculty soon led her to a promotion to Administrative Assistant where she was able to use her skill set to have an even greater positive impact on everyone around her. Moving up again, to the role of School Administrator, Beth is excited to be an integral part of a school she loves and sees growing on a daily basis.

A true Floridian, Beth was born on Eglin Air Force Base and was raised in an Air Force family that travelled all over the world. She earned an Associate of Arts in Graphic Design from Valencia College in 2007, before earning her Bachelor of Arts in Art Education from Florida State University. After an internship in Florida State School’s Elementary Program, she is enjoying the DAVE School’s advanced artistic environment and has even helped coordinate The DAVE School’s Figure Drawing Workshops.

Jodie Primus- Receptionist

Jodie Primus is the first person you will hear or see at The DAVE School, and we couldn’t be more proud. As a Receptionist Extraordinaire, Jodie’s many hidden talents include a gift for Hair and Makeup Artistry. A fan of Star Trek, Tron, and Avatar, Jodie’s goal is to eventually get in front of The DAVE School’s massive 60 by 25 foot green screen as either an actor or a Hair and Makeup Artist. Right at home in the school’s creative atmosphere, Jodie looks forward to learning more about the visual effects industry.

Born and raised in Surrey, England, Jodie came to the United States when she was 11. She graduated from Westside Tech in Winter Garden, Florida, with certification in Professional Cosmetology.

Caleb Cover- 3D Printing Coordinator

Caleb is the school’s 3D Printing Coordinator, a Colorado native and co-founder of Bot Armada LLC, a garage-based pet project offering both instruction in using and maintaining 3D printers along with the production of prototypes to final products. His experience stems from managing the largest known RepRap 3D printer Bot Farm, weighing in at 40+ printers, for Aleph Objects Inc..